Dementia

Multiple genes are implicated in Alzheimer’s disease. Some are linked to early-onset Alzheimer’s, a condition that develops in one’s 30s, 40s and 50s, while others are associated with the more common late-onset form of the disease. Eventually, all Alzheimer’s patients develop dementia, and their brain cells die. But not all genes linked to the disease

Nearly half of all patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neuromuscular disorder, develop cognitive problems that affect memory and thinking. Why a disease that primarily affects movement also disrupts thinking has been unclear. But now, an international team of researchers has identified genetic links between ALS and frontotemporal dementia, a rare disorder marked

People with Alzheimer’s disease are known to have disturbances in their internal body clocks that affect the sleep/wake cycle and may increase risk of developing the disorder. Now, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that such circadian rhythm disruptions also occur much earlier in people whose memories are intact

Using new methodology, scientists calculate that approximately 6 million American adults have Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment, which can sometimes be a precursor to the disease. The estimate, funded by the National Institutes of Health, also forecasts that these numbers will more than double to 15 million by 2060, as the population ages. The

For the first time, scientists have found a connection between abnormalities in how the brain breaks down glucose and the severity of the signature amyloid plaques and tangles in the brain, as well as the onset of eventual outward symptoms, of Alzheimer’s disease. The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part

Higher long-term lithium exposure from drinking water may be associated with a lower incidence of dementia, a large population-based study suggests. "This is the first study ever investigating the association between lithium in drinking water and onset of dementia," Lars Vedel Kessing, MD, DMSc, from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, told Medscape Medical News. "If

A large, long-term study suggests that middle aged Americans who have vascular health risk factors, including diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking, have a greater chance of suffering from dementia later in life. The study, published in JAMA Neurology, was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “With an aging population, dementia is becoming

Decades before people with Alzheimer’s disease develop memory loss and confusion, their brains become dotted with plaques made of a sticky protein – called amyloid beta – that is thought to contribute to the disease and its progression. Currently, the only way to detect amyloid beta in the brain is via PET scanning, which is

ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis University researchers have received a $443,636 grant from the National Institute on Aging to investigate the relationship between the diabetes drug Metformin and dementia risk. Jeffrey Scherrer, Ph.D., professor and research director in the department of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University, said this is the first study of

Researchers have uncovered new evidence of a link between disturbed sleep and Alzheimer's disease (AD) that involves neuronal damage and inflammation in addition to amyloid plaques. Investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that self-report of inadequate sleep and greater daytime sleepiness in older, middle-aged, cognitively normal persons is associated with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers